Shabak Caught With Its Pants Down…Again

'In the Dungeons of Shabak': Yuval Diskin portrayed in his office and the dungeons below... (Biderman)

I’ve recounted here an earlier scandal involving the third-highest ranking Shabak officer, “Claude,” who not only fudged on his departmental budget and overspent by hundreds of thousands of dollars, but slept with a married female subordinate, promoted her, and then demoted her husband. At the time this scandal was reported, Yuval Diskin, the head of said house of ill-repute, claimed he followed proper procedures, investigated fully, etc., etc. The fact of the matter is that the randy culprit was only disciplined when the cuckholded husband filed a formal civil service complaint against the officer. Just last week, the independent investigation expelled him from Shabak service for three years.

My question: why not forever? Does the Israeli civil service believe that someone in such a trusted and sensitive position protecting the security of the State should be allowed to act in such a way and get a slap on the wrist of a three-year suspension from the intelligence services? Well, at least they didn’t allow him to continue serving, which is what Diskin’s original proposal was.

Now we have yet another sex scandal (Hebrew): a senior Shin Bet officer, N. (with the equivalent rank of Brig. Gen.), carried on an affair with a female subordinate. Then he had the audacity to appoint himself to the committee evaluating her for a promotion. The offender himself was up for a major promotion that would’ve brought him the rank of Major General.

Not only can’t these guys keep it in their pants, they haven’t the least sensitivity to ethical issues. This goes to a fundamental machismo within certain male Israeli circles especially involving men in positions of power in the military, politics and business worlds. You have only to look at the cases of Haim Ramon and Moshe Katsav as recent examples. The Israeli poet and peace activist Yitzhak Laor has also been accused of such predatory sexual behavior.

And lest anyone think I’m singling out Israeli males or the Israeli intelligence services for such opprobrium, let’s recall the CIA’a Algeria station chief accused of drugging and raping multiple Algerian women during the course of his “service” in that country. Having power over people intoxicates some male egos and allows them to cross the boundaries of civilized behavior. Apparently this happens more more frequently in Israel, and naturally in its security service as well.

Diskin perhaps learned a lesson from his shameful slap on the wrist that he offered as “punishment” for “Claude,” the first offender. He immediately sought the second predator’s resignation. Though the article does say that the initial complaint in this case was brought to the civil service commission (which is how Claude met his end), so it’s possible that even in this case Diskin wouldn’t act until an independent body forced his hand.

As a result of the resignation, the civil service case complaint against N. has been closed. Hence, he will likely move on to some other employment (much like Katsav who left behind a long list of victims even before he became president), likely at an equivalent senior position, where he will continue similar behavior.

What does it tell you about the managerial skills of Diskin that he taps a sexual predator for promotion to a senior Shabak post? And is it any wonder, given that the Shabak itself in some ways preys on its victims, both Jewish and Palestinian, often without any serious proof of a security offense?

and the list goes on and on. some very talented guys in the list, including Bill Clinton who was one of the better presidents the US has ever known. so does that means that those who are involved in a sex scandal are bad performers in other areas of their life ? The usual American Hypocrisy.

Mr. Silverstien, prior to you passing criticism maybe you would like to check your own kind first ?

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September 12, 2010 9:58 AM

Yakov

It’s not just the sex scandal itself, it’s also how the system around the person in question deals with it.

This is especially severe when it happens in systems that are not generally in the public’s view.

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September 12, 2010 10:48 AM

Itai M

Oh, now i see. you mean like when Clinton lied to the entire American nation – live on TV if i recall correctly – and still got to finish his term ? of course in official conversation all American’s condemn clinton, while in private conversation most of them wanted to be in his place.
Or do you mean like the congressman who went hiking in the smokey mountains who actually flew down to Brazil to be with his mistress and asked his aids to lie ?

spare me the righteousness, it happens all over the world.

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September 12, 2010 11:28 AM

Yakov

It does. but the system at large makes no attempt to hide or bury it.

Your “private conversation” claim is probably correct, yet irrelevant precisely because it’s a public affair and the public isn’t willing to admit it’s “private thoughts”.

Compare this with the fact that Diskin probably would have done nothing regarding the previous scandal if he could.

Diskin’s moves in the first affair are complicated as he did first demand that Claude quit, but the latter threatened to wash dirty linen in public & this blackmail forced Diskin to merely move his laterally in the Shabak hierarchy. Thank God there is a civil service not bound by all this blackmail & extortion (though they did only give Claude a 3 yr suspension rather than lifetime ban fr. returning).

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September 12, 2010 1:10 PM

Itai M

So now you are basing your criticism on what diskin would have probably done ? this is totally lame you know.
Shabac is an organized work place, and like any other place there is a way to file a claim about sexual harassment and abuse. once a claim receive it is handled accordingly.
the way i see it, it seems that TIkun Olam is busy with trying to embarrass the state of Israel and it’s institute and not with finding a solution to the israeli arab conflict (and I’ll tell you the truth, i was drown to this site because of its name which led me to think that a serious discussion will be promoted here)

Go back & read the Israeli coverage of the Claude incident & you’ll see that Diskin, before there was a formal civil service complaint, attempted to sweep the matter under the rug. While he did at first attempt to fire Claude, Claude threatened him & he merely gave him a lateral job move. It was only once the independent civil service got involved at the behest of the cuckholded husband that the Shabak did anything close to the right thing. So yes, I blame Diskin for this & the good ol’ boy network of the Shabak which clearly tries to protect its own.

I didn’t invent the sex scandal. If you have a problem with reporting this story then blame your own democratic media which reported it (albeit w. slavish regurgiation of the Shabak’s PR memes) before me.

You’re only the 400th Israelist who’s repeated virtually the same statement. Are you getting yr lines fr. Hasbara Central or what? Hundreds of thousands of other in the course of any given yr are “drawn to this site” because they believe (unlike you) that a “serious discussion” is promoted here. If you disagree, you’re welcome to move on to greener pastures (for you).

Aren’t you overlooking a few things? Like the fact that Clinton became only the 2nd U.S. president to be impeached by the House of Representatives for his conduct in this affair? Plus, Clinton never placed himself on a promotion committee to give Lewinsky advancement. And he didn’t demote anyone related to Lewinsky on the White House staff as Claude did.

in private conversation most of them wanted to be in his place.

And you know this how? Because you’re privy to the secret conversations of “most” Americans? In fact, most Americans were disgusted by what Clinton did & even more by his behavior after the fact.

the congressman who went hiking in the smokey mountains who actually flew down to Brazil to be with his mistress and asked his aids to lie ?

It was a governor, not a Congressman. And he didn’t have an affair w. a state employee & didn’t do any of the things I mentioned above. BTW, a NY governor used a prostitute, was exposed & resigned his job. I don’t deny that men misbehave all over the world. But in other places there are consequences for such behavior when they abuse their power. In Israel, it is much harder to punish wrongdoers because there is less of an awareness of the act as a violation of women & their rights. Plus you have a sacrosanct security apparatus that generally brooks no opposition or review.

And you know this how? Because you’re privy to the secret conversations of “most” Americans? In fact, most Americans were disgusted by what Clinton did & even more by his behavior after the fact.

Err… and you know this how? Because you’re privy to the secret conversations of “most” Americans? In fact, neither of you are.

But anyway, I don’t see how it makes any difference either way. What most people think doesn’t change anything about the moral standing of such acts, people’s different scales of morals taken into account.

You mean other than the fact that I’m an American, & lived through the Clinton sex scandal in all its disgustingness & followed every permutation of it in the media along w. the impeachment trials, not to mention discussing it with a few hundred of my fellow citizens during the course of his entire presidency? You mean other than that I don’t know anything about what Americans thought about this???

I’m an American & therefore have a pretty good idea of what most Americans think about the Clinton affair. THey were disgusted. There’s absolutely no evidence I’ve ever seen either anecdotal or published that Americans were secretly envious of Bill Clinton’s escapades.

For me to claim I know what Americans are thinking on this subject is far diff. than for an Israeli Jew to claim he or she knows what a Palestinian is thinking. I think you should know this & understand the difference.

We’ve got the idea that otherwise politicians engage in sex while in office. But you’re missing the point. Most of those above didn’t engage in sex with women in their own employ, nor did they attempt to promote them, nor did they demote their spouses, nor did they serve in an intelligence service. And most of these people faced punishment for their actions that was either immediate or prompt. In other words, the system worked in an expeditious way to remove them fr. office if they broke the rules or the law (in not all of the above cases was their any rule infraction or illegal act).

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September 12, 2010 1:24 PM

yahoo

January 26, 1998 “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky”

“I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate.”

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September 12, 2010 11:49 AM

dickerson3870

RE: “Having power over people intoxicates some male egos and allows them to cross the boundaries of civilized behavior. Apparently this happens more more frequently in Israel…” – R.S.
MY COMMENT: And it will very likely continue as long as Israel is a garrison state perpetually at war and obsessed with “national security”. Call it “Golda’s legacy” (or perhaps Jabotinsky’s).

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September 12, 2010 4:55 PM

momo3

Ok, so what explains the bad behavior of American politicians that gets exposed every other week?

We have more of ’em than you do in Israel since our population is a tad higher than yours. If you had 50 times the population you’d have 50 times the sex scandals (likely more considering how macho Israeli men are).

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September 13, 2010 12:09 AM

Anyn.

The reporter who quotes Shabak’s response is not asking the real interesting question – is the sex the cause of the promotion committee appointment or is it the other way around?

In other words, is promotion through the bedroom the rule in the Shabak?

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